The Lover and The Fool
by Oomaki-chan
Summary: Fishing trips were always fun. But sometimes things went wrong. And sometimes things went right.


Going out on the sea had become a bit of a tradition since the summer had started. Libertá, Nova and Felicità would do this every Sunday. They would all take the day off, pack a picnic and fishing gear, then head down to the docks. They would always rent the same small sailboat every time. However this week it was a bit different. Nova had a huge pile on of work to do suddenly, and couldn't make it. It wasn't too weird that one of them wouldn't be able to make it on the little field trip, so Libertá and Felicità didn't hesitate to just go on their own. Right now the two were cleaning up after their lunch. They had made little sandwiches the night before as well as packed freshly made lemonade.

"Okay! Ready for some fishing?" Libertá asked the young girl on the boat. He held up two fishing poles

"Yep." Felicità flashed Libertá a smile and took one of the fishing poles. She walked over to the side of the boat and waited for her blonde friend to bring the bucket of water and bait over. Since she was still very knew to fishing, Felicità always let Libertá tie the first worm on her hook and even cast off for her, so that she could watch. "Thank you." She smiled again as she received the pole for the second time.

"No problem Princess." Libertá tied his own bait and launched in into the water. Then the two waited. As often as they hung out, the two never had much to talk about on their little trips on the ocean. As a result they spent a lot of their time just standing around and fishing in near silence. The occasional 'good job' or 'nice catch' was shared between them in the event of catching something. However it was never awkward. The young teens just liked to spend time together.

"I think I felt something tug." Felicità announced loud enough to get Libertá's attention. Libertá looked over the edge of the boat and into the water, his gaze following the line of Felicità's fishing pole.

"Looks like you got a bite." Libertá grinned. "You remember how to reel it in?"

"I think." The red haired girl nodded, tightening her grip on the fishing poll.

Libertá watched carefully as Felicità focused on when to pull the fish up and out of the water. However, he didn't pay attention to how she was doing it, so much as how she looked. It was now secret how he felt about her. Just about anyone could tell how his face was always red when he was close to her, and how he would begin to stutter when they touched. Pace and Debito had actually made it a habit of teasing him for it. Sometimes even Dante would call him 'Lover-boy'. Sure it bugged him a lot, but it was mostly because he didn't want Felicità to find out. He didn't want her to stop talking to him because of it. But at the same time, Libertá had a feeling like she had found out on her own, whether it was by instinct or by reading his heart, she probably knew. But right now Libertá didn't care. He watched as Felicità leaned against the railing on the boats wall. Libertá noted every detail. From the way her long red hair flowed down her back, the creases in her shirt, the drops of water from their swim earlier that rolled down her neck, all the way to the way she bit her lip in concentration.

"Watch yourself." Libertá warned as he saw the girl getting pulled by the large fish that had taken her bait. He pulled his own fishing poll out of the water and dropped it on the floor of the boat. He reaching one of his hands over and grabbed Felicità's fishing rod in order to give her a helping hand.

"Thanks Libertá." Felicità said, taking the moment to readjust her footing and grip.

"You're welcome." He said, still keeping his own grip on Felicità's poll, just in case. He had to block the fact that his hand was slightly touching hers out of his head in order to concentrate on helping. Suddenly the fish tugged and the pair lurched forward some. Without even thinking first, Libertá reaching around Felicità and grabbed onto the poll with his other hand as well. "Crap. This one's big."

Felicità just nodded. Neither of them seemed to notice the position they were in, as all of their attention went to pulling the wish in. If they had, they would probably lose the poll along with the fish. Libertá stood with his arm practically around Felicità, his chest pressing slightly against her back. His hands were on top of hers as they both held tightly onto the fishing rod. It looked like your classic, cheesy date move. Yet neither noticed it. They were both trying to pull the large fish out of the water, but it didn't seem to be working. Then suddenly there was a small 'twang' and the two both fell backwards.

"I guess the line snapped." Libertá chuckled a bit, rubbing his head after hitting against what he believed had been the floor of the boat. He was about to ask if Felicità was hurt. That's when he finally figured out how close they were, or more so, how she was pretty much on top of him. Libertá was on the ground, propping himself up with one elbow, looking down at the beautiful red haired girl who was leaning against his chest, somehow between his legs. He could feel her slightly damp hair tickling his arms and face. The slightly shocked expression on her face showed that she was just as surprised by the sudden fall as he was. Or at least, she was surprised not to notice their position herself.

Libertá wanted to speak up. Ask her if Felicità was ok. Ask her if she needed help getting up. But he just couldn't. He would open his mouth to speak, but the words would die in his throat. He could feel how hot his face had gotten and could imagine how red it must be right now. He needed to say something. But he just couldn't. Libertá closed his eyes and mentally cursed himself for being so stupid right now. He didn't manage to open his eyes until he felt the weight on his chest suddenly shift.

"I guess….." Felicità began. "I guess it was a bit too big."

Libertá couldn't help but laugh. "You guess?" He said, regaining his composure some. "Man that this was huge!" He spread his arms out as if to prove a point.

Felicità crawled out of Libertá's lap and turned to face the blonde boy, sitting cross legged in front of him. "Really? I didn't get the chance to look."

"You bet! I don't think anyone would be able to bring that thing in without a fight." Libertá let a grin spread across his face. He pulled his legs up and sat with the bottoms of his feet pressed together. "It's a bit of a shame though. I didn't bring extra fishing line."

"What should we do now?" Felicità asked, coxing her head to the side.

"Dunno." Libertá took a moment to look like he was thinking about what to do next. But in reality, his mind was nowhere near fishing. He couldn't get the feeling of Felicità's small body pressed against his own out of his head. He had to admit, he felt a bit empty since he couldn't feel the warmth of her back any more. And he was starting to miss the smell of fresh flowers and sea salt that had intoxicated his senses.

Felicità noticed that Libertá's face was a deep pinkish red. She started getting a bit worried about him. The first thing that popped into her head was a cold. Had he caught something? If he was sick then why did he agree to take her out on the sea? As Felicità began to fill her head with thoughts of a sick Libertá, she came to the conclusion that she should at least figure out if something was wrong. She leaned forward and reached her hand out to touch his face, immediately catching you blonde boy's attention.

"W-what are you doing." Libertá asked as he scooted himself away from the hand. He mentally cursed himself for stuttering. He took a gulp of his own spit as he watched the young girl silently crawl towards him. What was she doing? Had she felt something too? Had she read his heart? The blonde teen squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the girl's cool hand press against his forehead.

"You don't have a fever." Felicità muttered.

"What?" Libertá tried to keep his voice from shaking. "You think I'm sick or something?"

"Well, your face looked a bit red." Felicità replied as she withdrew her hand. "I was just checking."

All Libertá could manage was a simple nod. He was having a hard time holding back now. They were in the ocean, and there was no one else around. So if he said anything it would stay between them, right? Libertá had a feeling like it was now or never, since he rarely got the chance to be alone with Felicità like this. He swallowed one last time before opening his mouth to speak. "Um. You know-"

Those two words got Felicità's attention. The red haired girl looked towards Libertá. Her green eyes staring questioning at the boy.

"Well. Um. Uh." Libertá was having a hard time finding the right words. This really wasn't like him. He didn't slip up. He didn't question what he was going to say. And he definitely didn't stutter. But here he was, acting like the fool he represented. "Well, I just wanted to say that-. I. Um. Crap. Sorry. Give me a sec." Libertá took a deep breath, then lifted his head to look Felicità in the eyes. "Felicità, I, I, I really really like you."

Felicità stared at Libertá. She let his words process in her mind. He liked her? Like, LIKE liked her? For some reason, she wasn't as wasn't a shocked as she could have been, but she was still a bit surprised. She had had the feeling that he might have felt something for her, but she had always figured that since he never acted on it, she had been mistaken. She took a moment. Judging from the way he had sputtered around with his words just now, he had definitely meant what he had said, so she wanted to answer him as honestly as she could. She looked up at him. He was getting nervous, judging by the blush on his face and the way he had begun playing with his fingers. He looked pretty cute actually.

"I-" She began. She knew how she wanted to respond, but at the same time she didn't. She looked him in the eyes, then shyly at her lap, and nodded. Hoping that her message was getting through properly. But when she looked up again, it seemed like he had missed it. In fact, if anything he looked even more worried than before. She needed to push what she wanted to say through. Felicità began to crawl forward once more. She stopped to kneel in front of Libertá and hesitated briefly before lifting her arms up and wrapping them around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

It warm. It was sweet. And it was soft. But mostly it was surprising. Libertá's eyes were shot wide open when the teenage girl wrapped her arms around him. He quickly put his arms around her small back, gripping her shoulders and puller her closer to him. Libertá buried his head into the back of Felicità's neck, breathing in the sweet sent he had missed since they last separated. The two sat there for a while. Neither of them wanted to move. After what seemed like a lifetime, the two finally separated. Both of their faces were red. Felicità was about to open her mouth to speak before Libertá leaned in a pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. It was short and light, yet very sweet. And when Libertá pulled away, Felicità brought her hands to her mouth.

"Ah. Sorry." Libertá said noticing the girl's surprise. "I just got a bit excited I think."

"It's ok." Felicità smiled at Libertá. "I don't mind."

Libertá let off a grin before getting up, and helping Felicità up as well. Since they couldn't do much with only one fishing pole, they decided to head back early. Libertá began steering them back towards the docks while Felicità packed up all of the fishing equipment. It had ended up being a great little trip after all.

_Later That Week_

Nova had noticed that Libertá and Felicità had been acting a bit differently since they had gotten back from the fishing trip he had missed. But he didn't know what could be up. After all, there wasn't any one thing really sticking out. They just seemed to be around each other a lot more than usual. And whenever they were in the same room as everyone else, they would stand as close to each other as they could. If they were ever on opposite sides of the room, they would look at each other and smile quite frequently. Nova was just confused. He decided to ask Pace, Debito, and Luca about it, the three all looked at each other. Luca had a bit of a panic attack and Pace had to hold back. The only response he had gotten was from Debito, and it had made no sense.

"Looks like the Lover found her Fool."


End file.
